Patty Loveless Joins Brandi Carlile For Timeless Performance Honoring Vince Gill At 2025 CMA Awards

Patty Loveless Makes A Rare Appearance At 2025 CMA Awards

Country music’s biggest stars gathered on Wednesday (November 19) for the 59th Annual CMA Awards.

For fans of traditional country music, a rare performance from Patty Loveless was a special treat.

Known for her powerful voice and for blending traditional country with a honky-tonk sound, Loveless is a rare treat since she retired from touring in nearly two decades ago in 2009.

Loveless emerged as a formidable presence in country music during the late 1980s and 1990s. A native of Kentucky, she distinguished herself with a voice of purity and emotion.

Her discography includes four platinum-certified albums and 44 Top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot Country chart, five of which attained the number-one position.

In 2022, Chris Stapleton surprised the crowd at the Kentucky Rising flood relief concert by bringing Loveless on stage. The duo teamed up for Patty’s 1994 hit “You Don’t Even Know Who I Am” followed by “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive,” a song Loveless recorded for her bluegrass album, Mountain Soul, in 2001.

Following significant fan response to the collaboration, the pair teamed up again for a duet at the 2022 CMA Awards. Stapleton and Loveless once again performed “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive.”

Patty Performs “When I Call Your Name” With Brandi Carlile

In one of the most heartwarming moments of the night, Loveless joined Brandi Carlile to perform a duet of Vince Gill’s iconic 1989 hit “When I Call Your Name”.

The performance served as the opening tribute in honor of Gill, who was recognized with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award. The country music legend is only the tenth artist to ever receive the award, as it is not given every year.

Loveless stepped on the stage as Carlile was singing, surprising the audience for a timeless performance. By the time they were done performing, Gill had tears in his eyes.